A Sense of Freedom
by harlequinromancex
Summary: Set 16 years after the movie - Jack and Sally have a daughter, Ana. Today is her birthday, and after Jack expresses a hope for her to find a sutor at her party, Ana runs aways and meets Oogie Boogie. Oogie's Son and Ana...Romances... Rated T for now!
1. Too Many Tears

**Author's Note - Okay, this is my first fanfiction, pretty much a next generation Nightmare Before Christmas...Right in time for Christmas! Haha, sooo...Yeah... This is it. There may be a few typos, pardon them please. REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! 5 positive reviews and the next chapter goes up :) Enjoy the story!**

"This is a special occasion, Ana...", a very nervous Sally said quietly as she stitched on the finishing touches on her daughters Sweet Sixteen dress. "You know that your father very proud of you and wants to show all of Halloween Town how much you've grown."

Ana smiled softly and smirked at her mother. "Maybe if he would let me go out of this tower every once in a while he wouldn't have to plan this big party just to show that he hadn't murdered me..." she muttered softly, turning a little to get a good view of her dress from the back.

Her mother had really outdone herself, creating a dress worthy of a queen instead of a 16-year-old girl. The underpart of the dress was all black, with the skirt just skimming the floor, and a corset top showed off how much she had grown in the 8 years since her formal homeschooling had begun, and was tied in the front with deep purple laces that matched her own eyes. A sheer grey lacey material covered the underskirt and was held on by a black sash adorned with little black sequins and a black rosebud on her narrow hips.

Ana took after her father in many ways, especially in how lean he was. Her thin bones were covered by snow white rags, random black and purple stitches holding her together. Her hair was as thin as thread, black as night. It wasn't a surprise that she had gotten the nickname 'Princess of the Graveyard' by the Townspeople that she only saw during Town Meetings.

"Mom, I think it's done... It really does look perfect." Ana said in her soft voice, deep red lips turning up in a smile. Sally stood next to her daughter, inspecting the dress for anything that didn't look right. "I think you're ready for this party, Ana." Sally said, packing up her sewing basket with a smile that only a proud mother could bear so brightly.

The front door opened downstairs with a creak and a light humming could be heard from no other than Jack Skellington. "Where are my two favorite women?", he shouted from the foyer. Sally walked out of Ana's room and leaned over the banister to reply. "In here, Jack! Come up and see Ana's dress. She looks so lovely and grown-up!", she said, still smiling with joy.

Jack reached the upper level in no time, due to his long legs and equally long strides. Jack walked into Ana's room, a skeletal grin on his face as he saw his 16-year-old. "Well, well, well...", he said as Ana did a 360 turn for her father. "We'll have no problem finding you a sutor with this lovely gown!"

Ana froze upon hearing the word 'sutor'. She must have heard her father wrong, so she questioned what his last statement was. "Oh, honey, didn't I tell you? I looked around and it turns out that quite a few mysterious faces are going to show up tonight, hearing about your debut they must have cleared their schedules for the evening!" Jack said, a little too enthusiastic for his surprised daughter.

Ana felt a couple of tears blur her vision after hearing this news. She was only 16, it wasn't like she was 30 and needed to be married off in a hurry in order for Jack and Sally to have grandchildren. "Oh Ana! I knew that you would be thrilled at this news!!!", Jack exclaimed. He rushed out of the room, leaving Ana and Sally to talk about future wedding plans.

As soon as Jack left the room, Ana burst. "Mom! You can't let him do this! I don't want to get courted! I don't want all this happening right now!" she said, wiping tears from her pale cheeks. Sally sadly shook her head, signaling that she and Jack had already talked about the matter and there was no swaying him. Ana just sobbed more and rushed out of the room, not bothering the change out of her gown.

She rushed down the stairs and out of the house, exiting the town gates quickly and running towards the woods. She didn't want to see anyone that she knew, any possible sutors, she didn't want to see anyone in general.

Back at the house, Jack and Sally were clearly aware of how upset their daughter was. "She just needs some alone time... A chance to clear her head." Sally said, giving Jack a light kiss on his cheekbone. Jack nodded at this thought. "I just hope that she comes back in time for her party." he said, walking downstairs to finish up some last minute details.

In the meantime, Ana had reached an old house, with a bird cage set up next to it. She approached the building and peered down into the shaft, seeing and hearing nothing. The bird cage was obviously an elevator, and a dangerous one at that, only supported by a pulley and some rope. With her tears long dried up, Ana entered the cage and was surprised when it began to move slowly down into the darkness.

After a few seconds of quiet moving, the cage stopped. The only thing in sight was a hole that looked like a trash shute, lit dimly by two worn lanterns on either side. Ana approached the hole and peered down, only seeing darkness. On the walls next to the opening, random pictures and sayings were carved, the most frequent being 'Lock, Shock, and Barrel were here!' alongside a few demonic faces.

Ana turned back to the hole and leaned down, shouting out a hello. Her voice echoed off the tin tunnel, and then there was quiet. Just as she was turning around to head back up, a deep voice shouted back up. "Hello there." it said, followed by an evil laughter.

**A.N. - Okay! End of chapter one! Please Review... I want to find out if people like the fanfic, or even if it's worth adding on to. 5 reviews gets a new chapter :)**


	2. Blast from the Past

Ana turned back around after hearing the voice coming from the hole. She walked back over towards the opening and cautiously leaned inside.

"Hello...", she replied, checking to see if she was hearing things or if there was really someone down there.

"Yes, doll? May I help you?", the deep voice said back. Ana backed away slowly, unsure of what to do in this situation. The person could be stuck down there, waiting to find a way out. But on the other hand, it could be some creeper, trying to kidnap an unsuspecting child. She decided to find out for herself, so Ana walked back over to the opening and began to prompt the mysterious voice.

"Who are you?", she said a little louder than before, leaning farther into the tunnel. "Why don't you come down here and see?" the voice said, cackling wickedly as the floor shook, setting Ana off balance and into the tunnel.

Ana screamed as she fell face-first down the tunnel. The moved her hands around, trying to find something to slow herself down, but was unsucessful. The tunnel wasn't large enough for Ana to turn herself around in, even with her small figure.

Finally, a deep green light appeared at the base, signaling the end. Ana used her hands to protect her face as she fell onto the ground, hitting her head against the hard floor.

Groaning, she pushed herself up with her left arm. Her right arm was dangling by a thread, literally, with the fall causing her to break a few stitches. Ana stood up, holding her damaged arm, wishing that she had remembered her mother's advice of always bringing along a needle and thread seeing as they shared the same problem of falling apart.

Ana took this opportunity to look around, seeing random items usually found in a funhouse. Life-sized playing cards, tin soliders holding guns and swords, and even some odd bugs crawling around. As she took the time to examine this, she didn't notice the figure examining her from the shadows.

Finding her voice, Ana stepped forward. "Why did you make me fall?", she asked openly, not yet seeing the thing that had made the ground shake. Out from the shadows stepped something, not a man, more like a doll. He was large and seemed to be made of a giant bedsheet, black thread holding him together around the edges. A sinister grin was placed on his hollow face, giving him the apperance of pure evil.

"Who...who are you?" Ana asked, stepping back.

"Me? You haven't heard of me from daddy yet? I'm the boogeyman! Oogie Boogie!" he said with a cackle, rolling a pair of dice in his hands.

**Author's Note : Okay, sorry this is kinda short for a chapter, but I wanted to introduce Oogie into the picture before we meet his son :) I also noticed that 23 people have read the story, but only 1 review((Thank you, btw!)). I really want to know what you guys think of the story, if anything needs to be changed or added, or even if it totally sucks! I NEED OPINIONS!**


	3. Next of Kin

Ana let out a gasp of surprise when she heard his name. "Oog...Oogie Boogie?" she questioned, holding her torn arm closer in shock. She had heard many stories from her father about how this evil man had held a man called 'Sandy Claws' and her mother hostage many years ago. Ana was mostly shocked to see him standing before her, seeing as her father had told her that he had been destroyed in a battle for Sandy Claws and Sally.

"I want to go home now... Let me out.", Ana studdered looking around for a way back up the tunnel.

Oogie laughed, stepping closer, still rolling his dice in his hand. "Ohhhh, this is too funny!" he cackled, resting against a tin solider. "The Pumpkin King's daughter has come to me! I didn't even have to call up Lock, Shock, or Barrel!"

Ana was frozen with fear, unsure of what Oogie wanted with her. She wished that she was back at home, with her mother and father, helping to finish decorating for her party. She'd even talk to some of these 'sutors' that her father had talked about.

"What do you want with me?" Ana questioned, cowering in the corner.

Oogie cackled a little more, stepped forward onto a small spider-shaped button on the floor. The ground began to spin, the toys moving forward in a slow marching. Ana pressed herself further into the corner, wishing that she would be back home in her bed, just waking up from this terrible dream.

Just then, the sound of cloth against metal was heard, getting louder by the seconds. Ana realized it was the sound of another person coming down the metal tunnel. Thinking it was her father here to rescue her, Ana stood up and ran over to the opening just as the person came into the room. As soon as their feet touched the floor, all the motion in the room stopped and Oogie stood with a grin on his face. Ana wrapped her arms around the person's torso, her heart sinking when the person tensed up as soon as she touched him.

"Dad... Who's this?", the person said, pushing Ana away. Realizing it wasn't the man she thought, she immediatly stepped back, looking at the person in front of her.

He looked much more human that Oogie Boogie, with a body that resembled a living breathing person, not just a flour sack stitched together and filled with bugs. He had raven black hair that looked like very thin yarn, it was combed back, revealing a pale cloth face with realistic eyes made of deep green thread with tiny black buttons used for pupils. He was a little more than a head taller than her and just as thin. He was wearing a black-on-black suit with a purple tie.

"Oh, I am SO glad you decided to drop in when you did... Allow me to introduce you to Ana Skellington, Jack's daughter." Oogie said, stepping forward to rest a hand on the man's shoulder. "Ana, this is my son, Eli..."

Ana distanced herself from the duo, still unsure as to their motives. She had just reached the back wall when she heard Eli's voice.

"You're party wasn't very fun without you there, you know..." he said, his voice deep and soothing compared to Oogie's evil mocking tone.

Ana stared at Eli in shock. Had he been one of the mystery suitors her father was referring to?

"My parents... Were they worried that I wasn't there?", Ana questioned very meekly. Her parents must be worried, wondering where their daughter had run off to.

"Not really." Eli said bluntly, walking off behind one of the soliders who had stopped mid-march. He returned with a needle and a spool of black thread in his pale hand.

Eli walked up to Ana, not caring that she was cowered in the corner, afraid of the situation and most likely his father. He held out his hand, motioning for Ana to allow him to fix her torn arm. She held her arm closer, unsure of if she could trust him.

"It's okay... I won't hurt you...", he said, his voice soft and gentle, keeping a simple monotone. "Seriously, I've been through this a time or two." Eli muttered, motioning to his multiple stitches, all black against white cloth so much like hers.

Slowly, Ana placed her damaged limb in Eli's open hand. The seam was torn right below the elbow, a rather easy fix-up. Eli went to work, quickly moving the needle in and out of the cloth a few times, then pulling the thread tight and finishing off with a nearly invisible knot.

Eli bent down to the stitch and bit the remaining thread off the knot, letting his lips linger on her for a few seconds longer. "There... Good as new." he said, letting his eyes meet hers. He winked, and walked away. "Nice to meet you, Ana..." Eli threw over his shoulder before disapearing behind a curtain painted with bats.

**Author's Note : Okay, so Ana has met Eli! I only have a couple of faint ideas on where I want to take the story from here, so I would love to hear your ideas! Also, some reviews would be amazing, only 1 so far... I'm a silent reader too, but even I leave reviews every few chapters ;) Thank you for reading!**


	4. The Contract

Ana stared after Eli with both curiosity and hatred for leaving her alone with Oogie again. Her arm tingled at the spot where his lips had been and she didn't want it to stop anytime soon. Hoping that Eli would come if anything got out of hand, Ana spoke. "I...I have some questions for you, Mr. Boogie..." she said quietly, stepping out of the corner and towards Oogie.

Oogie cackled at how formal she was being and gave his dice a little roll. "Ah, whatever would you like to talk about, Ms. Skellington?" he said, leaning again on a solider for support against his heavy frame.

"Um...Well, for starters, how are you still alive? My dad told me that he destroyed you sixteen years ago." she said, smoothing her dress free of dirt from the wall.

"Let's go in the back room for this little convo... Of course, if you want answers, you have to be willing to gamble a little..." he said with another cackle, strolling behind the bat-painted curtains that Eli had gone through a little while ago.

Ana followed him behind the curtains and was surprised as to what she saw. A small room held a couch and a few chairs, because aparently they did SO much entertaining. Ajoining that room, there was a small kitchen that was completly filthy and seemingly bear. Down a small hallway, there were four doors.

Aparently, Oogie's alternative living style had left Ana in shock because she was staring with her mouth open. Oogie cackled and stepped forward, touching her jaw with his hand in a gesture to close her jaw. Ana flinched back, slapping at his hand. "Don't you ever touch me!" she said, walking into the small kitchen to get away from him. Oogie just sat there cackling, rolling his dice. "So, does little Ana want to play my reindeer games?"

Ana turned towards him, her arms now crossed. "Will I be able to go home?" she asked, sadness in her eyes. "That depends on how lucky you are, m'dear." Oogie said, sitting on the couch. He pulled a deck of cards, along with a small pad of paper and a pen. "But first, we have to write out a few contracts, so that your daddy doesn't come after me...Again!" he said with a giggle. Ana followed him into the small room and sat down in a chair that was across from the Boogeyman, glaring in his general direction as he sat with his head down, writing out her 'contract'.

"Finished!" Oogie said, holding up the piece of paper. He cleared his throat and began to speak. "On June 4th, Ana Skellington and Oogie Boogie entered an agreement of a game of luck and chance. If Ana decides to play, then she has two results from the game of luck and chance. If she wins 3 times in a row, her freedom is immediate, I shall return her up to Halloween Town safe and sound. But if she loses, then she must stay here with me, cooking and cleaning, until Jack Skellington comes and destroys myself or Eli." he looked up from the piece of paper, his hollow eyes boring into hers.

"Do we have an agreement, Ms. Skellington?" Oogie said, holding the contract out for Ana to sign.

Ana pondered all of the results, biting her crimson lips in thought. If she signed the contract, then her freedom would be soon. She knew that her father would come for her within hours, days at the latest, for her. There was nothing to lose. Ana quickly signed her name on the dotted line right under Oogie Boogie's name. She tossed the contract back at her captor and smirked.

What she didn't realize was the sidenote that Oogie had added on the back before she signed. 'If Jack Skellington doesn't rescue his daugter within 6 days, she must stay my prisoner forever.'

Back at home, Jack and Sally were putting on the happy party faces, telling everybody that Ana was nervous about seeing everyone or that she was finishing getting ready. Jack pulled Sally aside, talking quickly. "Where's Ana... She hasn't come back home yet! I'm getting worried about her." he said in a fast whisper. Sally frowned at the thought of her daughter being lost or even worse. "Maybe you should go and look for her... I'll take care of the party until you get back. Go find Ana, Jack..." she said, eyes filled with sadness and fear. Jack nodded and took of towards the woods in the direction Ana left in.

**Author's Note: Chapter 5 is on it's way :) I'm really shocked at all the views this story has gotten for only a short period of time! Thanks for viewing and to those of you who left reviews, Thank you very much! I'm really pleased to see that it's already gotten added to a favorites list AND an alert system. **

**It's incredibly flattering, thank you :) Happy (early)Holidays and thank you for reading!**


	5. The First Game

"You ready to play?" Oogie asked, rolling the dice in his hand. Ana nodded, moving a little closer to understand the rules. "The rules of the game, m'dear, are quite simple..." he said, shuffling the deck of cards in his hand.

"I give you five cards, I don't know what those cards are, but they can only be numbers one through ten. I then roll the dice, if the number on the dice match one of the cards, then that card is eliminated. You can also add cards together, but they can't leave any extra numbers left on the dice. If you roll three times and no dice match the cards, then you lose. And that would be game one of three." Oogie said, dealing out five cards to Ana. "This is a game of luck and chance... Have fun."

Ana understood the motives and picked up her cards. A 3, 6, 8, 5, and 2 were in her hands. Ana picked up the dice and rolled. The first number, a four and a four. Ana slapped down her 8, it was eliminated. Second roll of the dice left her with a 3 and a 5. Ana tossed down her 3 and 5 from her hand of cards. 'This game is easy...Who does Oogie think he's playing with?' she thought as she rolled the dice for the third time. A five and a five proved unlucky, Ana didn't have anymore 5's or a 10 in her hand.

"Strike one..." Oogie cackled.

Ana rolled the dice, praying for good numbers. A one and a two. Ana got rid of her 3 card and picked up the dice again for another roll. "Shit...", Ana muttered when she got her second bad throw of the dice. Seven and Four, not exactly good numbers.

"Strike two..."

Ana rejoiced when her next turn proved worthwhile, as she got rid of her 6 with a pair of threes. 'Okay, come on... Just get rid of your 2. Not that hard, pair of ones...' she thought, picking up the dice for her final throw. One cube rolled perfectly, landing on a one. The other on a 6. Ana leaned back in disapointment, she had to get out of here, FAST! And if playing cards wasn't her forte, then she wanted another game of chance.

"Haha, Strike three!" Oogie said, standing up. "See you in a week for our next game."

"What? Wait! I want to play now! I don't want to wait an entire week!" Ana said, standing up. She could already feel the tears beginning to blur her eyes.

"Sorry, thems the rules. Can't break them for anyone else, so I can't break them for you." Oogie said with false sympathy. He headed towards the bat curtains and left the room. "Tell Eli to get your room in order! First door on the left!" he shouted through the curtains as the sound of several people came down the chute. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel...How happy I am to see you!"

Ana walked away, not hearing anymore of the conversation, going over to the first door on the left. She rapped three times, quickly, on the closed door. The door opened seconds later, revealing Eli still dressed in his suit. Ana looked down at the floor and away from his smirk. "Can I help you with anything?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Um, Oogie said that you would find me a room..." Ana muttered just audible, biting her bottom lip.

Eli nodded and moved past Ana down the hall. He opened the door next to his and walked inside. Ana followed, peeking her head into the room. Inside the room was a cot, with a small table next to it. There were a couple books stacked on top of it, along with a jigsaw puzzle. Aparently Oogie and Eli had kept guests here before.

"Here's your room, Ana." he said, sending chills down Ana's spine when he said her name. He noticed her shiver and opened a small set of drawers on the oposite side of the bed, pulling out a deep purple and black quilt. "Here, incase you get cold." he said, tossing it on the bed. Ana stepped inside, walking over to the cot and sitting down. She wiped away her remaining tears and thought about how she could get out. Eli walked over towards the door, and just before he left, he stopped and turned around. "Your mother did a really nice job on that dress. It really flatters you." he said, walking out and shutting the door.

Ana felt butterflies in her stomach and pulled the quilt around her, smiling for the first time since arriving here.

**Author's Note: Okay, so sorry for the lack of Eli in this chapter :/ But it's obvious that they both have feelings for each other, or are at least crushing on each other. **

**I don't know what to do for the next Game of Chance Oogie has planned, so leave a review telling me what you think should happen. **

**Lock, Shock, and Barrel have come for a visit, and Oogie has something going on...**

**The next chapter will be pretty much about a week of living with Oogie and Eli, waiting for Jack to come and rescue Ana, and then towards the end, Oogie explaining the rules of the next game.**

**Happy Holidays!**


	6. Changes : AN

Hello people :) This is just an author's note about the fanfic.

I'm going to put it on Hiatus for the time being, so that I can have some time to rewrite it, still keeping the main story, but changing around some things.

I thank you for all the views and the 3 people that commented, thank you very much :)

My reasoning behind all this is mainly because I believe that the audience to a story is the main support for it. You all deserve a much better story, so I'm going to take some time to redo it.

I'll keep the old bit up until I'm done with at least 3 chapters, and then do a bulk uploading.

Thank you again for all of the support, and I hope that I can keep you as my audience after the revamping.

xoxo, Harlequin


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